Push Back: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller (The Disruption Series Book 2) by R.E. McDermott Page A
Authors: R.E. McDermott
Tags: Survival, dystopian fiction, apocalyptic fiction, survival fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction, EMP, prepper fiction
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“The locks.”
“That’s right,” Wellesley said. “All the boats on the east side are trapped between locks. They can’t get north to the Mississippi from Morgan City because of the locks at Bayou Sorrel and Port Allen. And likewise, they can’t get east to New Orleans because the Bayou Boeuf Lock is closed at Morgan City, and even if they could, they couldn’t lock up into the Mississippi, ’cause both the Harvey and Algiers locks are abandoned, just like everything else.” He shook his head. “Not that anybody in their right mind would head for New Orleans. It’s a war zone, last we heard.”
“You have contact?”
“Had. Just a VHF relay passin’ news from boats spread along the waterway as far east as New Orleans and north to Memphis. But we ain’t heard nothin’ from those guys for a week now. It appears like anyone who could leave the cities did, and the gangs are running wild. From what we hear, those FEMA assholes ain’t doin’ nothing to help the situation. They seem more focused on looting the civilians.”
Kinsey stiffened. “Baton Rouge?”
“Not quite as bad, I hear. The governor and the state government are there, so I imagine they kept some National Guard troops there to try to keep a lid on it.” Wellesley sneered. “Politicians are right good at lookin’ out for number one.”
Kinsey gave a relieved nod, then refocused on the topic at hand. “You said something about an imbalance …?”
“Oh yeah. Like I said, the crews were mostly a mixture, so we all congregated up there on the lock wall to try to hash it out. As you can probably imagine, there was a lot of arguing back and forth. Finally, everybody who lived on the west side of the lock, which means this part of Louisiana and Texas down as far as the Mexican border, came over to boats on this side. The problem was, there weren’t near enough people left on this side to crew all the boats, so there was a lot more arguing. They finally decided on six boats, and each one of them took a barge of diesel and loaded up on groceries and water from the abandoned boats and headed west. That’s how we knew about convicts pretending to be the law.”
“They warned you?” Kinsey asked.
“Not directly,” Wellesley said. “They separated and one of ’em stopped in Port Arthur to let some guys look for their families, and had a run-in with the fake cops. They were at the edge of VHF range and breaking up pretty bad, but we heard ’em warning the other westbound boats about the cons on the radio; then we lost ’em. They mentioned prison tattoos. That’s why when you showed up from that direction, I wasn’t sure if you were legit or not. I didn’t know what to do, which is why I bluffed you into the little striptease.”
Kinsey laughed. “And quite well, I have to admit. But what about the boats on the other side of the lock?”
“Still there, of course,” Wellesley said. “The tows anyway. Lots of the guys took the towboats’ aluminum skiffs and took off to see how far they could get, and a few lit out up the road, luggin’ gas cans and hopin’ to find an abandoned car. There are a lot of single guys in this life, though; those of us with no close family figured with everything going to hell, this didn’t seem to be a bad place to ride things out. We’re at the dead end of a road in the middle of nowhere with marsh and river all around us, so I doubt we’ll attract much unwanted attention. The boats that left loaded up supplies, but that still left plenty of groceries on the abandoned boats. We got power and showers and air-conditioning. Our biggest worry is fresh water, but between the tanks on the abandoned boats and the few of us, we’ll be okay until things get better.” He paused. “Which I think makes it your turn to share. I’m hoping the US Coast Guard showing up means things ARE getting better.”
Kinsey shook his head. “I’m afraid I have to disappoint you there, Cap—Lucius. I’m actually
“That’s right,” Wellesley said. “All the boats on the east side are trapped between locks. They can’t get north to the Mississippi from Morgan City because of the locks at Bayou Sorrel and Port Allen. And likewise, they can’t get east to New Orleans because the Bayou Boeuf Lock is closed at Morgan City, and even if they could, they couldn’t lock up into the Mississippi, ’cause both the Harvey and Algiers locks are abandoned, just like everything else.” He shook his head. “Not that anybody in their right mind would head for New Orleans. It’s a war zone, last we heard.”
“You have contact?”
“Had. Just a VHF relay passin’ news from boats spread along the waterway as far east as New Orleans and north to Memphis. But we ain’t heard nothin’ from those guys for a week now. It appears like anyone who could leave the cities did, and the gangs are running wild. From what we hear, those FEMA assholes ain’t doin’ nothing to help the situation. They seem more focused on looting the civilians.”
Kinsey stiffened. “Baton Rouge?”
“Not quite as bad, I hear. The governor and the state government are there, so I imagine they kept some National Guard troops there to try to keep a lid on it.” Wellesley sneered. “Politicians are right good at lookin’ out for number one.”
Kinsey gave a relieved nod, then refocused on the topic at hand. “You said something about an imbalance …?”
“Oh yeah. Like I said, the crews were mostly a mixture, so we all congregated up there on the lock wall to try to hash it out. As you can probably imagine, there was a lot of arguing back and forth. Finally, everybody who lived on the west side of the lock, which means this part of Louisiana and Texas down as far as the Mexican border, came over to boats on this side. The problem was, there weren’t near enough people left on this side to crew all the boats, so there was a lot more arguing. They finally decided on six boats, and each one of them took a barge of diesel and loaded up on groceries and water from the abandoned boats and headed west. That’s how we knew about convicts pretending to be the law.”
“They warned you?” Kinsey asked.
“Not directly,” Wellesley said. “They separated and one of ’em stopped in Port Arthur to let some guys look for their families, and had a run-in with the fake cops. They were at the edge of VHF range and breaking up pretty bad, but we heard ’em warning the other westbound boats about the cons on the radio; then we lost ’em. They mentioned prison tattoos. That’s why when you showed up from that direction, I wasn’t sure if you were legit or not. I didn’t know what to do, which is why I bluffed you into the little striptease.”
Kinsey laughed. “And quite well, I have to admit. But what about the boats on the other side of the lock?”
“Still there, of course,” Wellesley said. “The tows anyway. Lots of the guys took the towboats’ aluminum skiffs and took off to see how far they could get, and a few lit out up the road, luggin’ gas cans and hopin’ to find an abandoned car. There are a lot of single guys in this life, though; those of us with no close family figured with everything going to hell, this didn’t seem to be a bad place to ride things out. We’re at the dead end of a road in the middle of nowhere with marsh and river all around us, so I doubt we’ll attract much unwanted attention. The boats that left loaded up supplies, but that still left plenty of groceries on the abandoned boats. We got power and showers and air-conditioning. Our biggest worry is fresh water, but between the tanks on the abandoned boats and the few of us, we’ll be okay until things get better.” He paused. “Which I think makes it your turn to share. I’m hoping the US Coast Guard showing up means things ARE getting better.”
Kinsey shook his head. “I’m afraid I have to disappoint you there, Cap—Lucius. I’m actually
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